- Former shot put World Record holder and two-time Olympic bronze medalist, Jüri Tamm, talking about the inspiration he gained from watching his father pole vault even though he only had one arm. He had a PR of 3.20m (about 10.5 ft).

A MUST Read - One Of The Greatest Races Ever Run - The US Women's Version Of The Billy Mills 10,000 Win

RWorld Reintroduces The World To Debbie Heald, Who 40 Years Ago Incredibly Ran The US HS Indoor Mile Record Of 4:38.5Steve Friedman's piece on Heald is moving to say the least. Heald, whose father had committed suicide,
who had been molested and who was always battling injury (13 different running-related surgeries), somehow
at the US vs. USSR meet at age 16 in 1972 beat the greatest runners in the world, including the indoor 1,500 record holder and that year's eventual Olympic 1,500 champion, by running an a 8.5-second PR of 4:38.5. She came from way back to win thanks to a ferocious kick and she was known for having no kick. Her life since then has been full of struggles with schizophrenia but her HS indoor record still stands.
MB: Debbie Heald article in RW

In Case You Were Gone Over The Weekend: IAAF Gala Awarding Athlete Of Year And Celebrating 100 Years Of IAAF

Usain Bolt, Allyson Felix: 2012 IAAF Athletes Of The YearBolt won out over Aries Merritt and David Rudisha and of course Mo Farah (who was not a finalist, which means
he didn't finish in the top 3). Jessica Ennis and Valerie Adams were the other women's finalists. LRC cast its ballot for Rudisha and Felix. The IAAF should release the vote tallies.

Christmas Comes Early to LetsRun.com:LetsRun.com Tshirts $5 + $5 Shipping Per Order The first batch of LRC shirts sold like hotcakes. We took them offline and now want to get rid of the few remaining sizes before Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Despite Gold & WR, David Rudisha Still Dreaming Big On & Off Track He wants another Olympic title in 4 years and hopes the youth are used
to promote peace in Kenya, instead of being used as props by politicians. "One would say I have it all ... a World title, Olympic title and the world record but I always have something to motivate me."

Weekly Recap

LRCThe Week That Was: November 26 - December 2, 2012 This week we start with praise
for Bill
Aris, who has built
the greatest dynasty in US cross-country history. We then tell you why the 2012 Fukuoka Marathon will be remembered for what didn't happen rather than what did. Along the way we talk about 10 greatest half marathoners in history and wonder if anyone running more than 25 mpw or faster than 7:30 miles is killing themselves. Plus talk of Adam Nelson, Haile G, Paula Radcliffe and Martin Lel.

Some Of The Few Remaining Track & Field Journalists Weigh In On Adam Nelson

Fukuoka: Joseph Gitau Is The Surprise Winner In Fukuoka In 2:06:58 Hiroyuki Horibata was the top Japanese runner in 2:08:24 as Poland's Henryk Szost was 3rd (2:08:42), Arata Fujiwara 4th and the topsecond Japanese (2:09:31), and Yuki Kawauchi 6th (2:10:29). Mohamed Trafeh led for the US in 7th (2:11:41) over Ryan Vail (8th - 2:11:45) and Tim Nelson 12th (2:14:09). Haile Gebrselassie, Simon Bairu, Martin Mathathi and Brent Vaughn were all DNFs.
*Full Results

Wetmore-Simpson Round II

LRCJenny Simpson Coaching Switch Update Former CU Buff Stephen Kasica has some details on Simpson
training in Boulder last week. Plus there is a cool multimedia timeline on Simpson's career and some perspective. Simpson won Worlds under Juli Benson, yet never ran within 3.5 seconds of her 1,500m PR. Fascinating.

More Post-European XC News

LRC Meet The 2012 European Cross-Country ChampionsLetsRun prides
itself on promoting the sport's stars as individuals and not just as a group. Normally our efforts are devoted to "the Africans" but today we do the same for "the Europeans." Meet the junior woman who destroyed Mary Cain, meet the "Viking version of Centro" and potentially Italy and
Ireland's next marathon stars.

The Week That Was

LRC The Week That Was In Running: December 3 - December 9, 2012 This week we tell you why Wilson Kipsang is the best marathoner in the world, show you how Foot Locker CC is still > NXN, tell you how to PR in 13 straight marathons, talk about how some say EPO doesn't help you and give you our opinion on Ryan Hall's new coach. All of that plus talk of Manny Pacquiao
and the Tour
de France.

2012 Foot Locker Boys Photo Gallery (Updated)

Ryan Hall Talks About Being Coached By Renato Canova

2012 Foot Locker Legends Pre-Race Photo Gallery

Sports That Are For People Who Can't Cut It In Track: 1) Bobsled 2) Triathlon

Good Read: RunBlogRun Asks What Lies Ahead For Jordan Hasay? "There is an unspoken uneasiness around the fact that Hasay's phenomenal record as a young high schooler is not being fully replicated at the collegiate level ... Hasay's impressive record while at Oregon is nonetheless viewed by some as
falling somewhat short of what might have been expected from an athlete who totally dominated her events as a prep."

Our Weekly Analysis Returns At Last

LRCThe 2012 NCAA Cross Country Champs That Were We bring back our weekly recap by looking back two weeks
to the 2012 NCAA
Cross Country Championships. We start by praisingtheUConn women, Jordan Hasay, Abbey D'Agostino and ourselves before telling who flopped (Iona/Stanford), comparing Vin Lananna and Martin Smith, and telling you who the favorite is for 2013. Along the way, we crush the dreams of all college runners by telling them they likely won't improve (much) after their sophomore year before ending with talk about unbreakable women's world records.

NCAA Cross Photo Galleries (Captions Now Added)

Beautiful People: NCAA Banquet Photos (Click On Photo)

D3 Beautiful People: NCAA Banquet Photos (Click On Photo)

Training Advice

Advice From The Pros

Top 10 Training Tips
LetsRun.com's Weldon Johnson gives his top 10 training tips in this letsrun.com classic when the site first launched. They helped him knock 1:22 off his 10k PR in one race and will definitely help you, too.

No Shortcuts
LetsRun.Com coaching consultant John Kellogg outlines his basic coaching approach and gives the four principles to correct training for elites. LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson translates Mr. Kellogg's approach so that it is beneficial for the masses.

Wejo Speaks:

Why I Sucked In College Perhaps Wejo's most popular training article ever. Wejo explains why he was only a mediocre college runner, yet ended up running 28:06 for 10k.